Steel frame architectural structures such as buildings and the like have been constructed using either welded connections or bolted fittings between beams and columns to achieve an assembly capable of bracing structures against lateral loads. In such structures, steel beams and columns are arranged and fastened together using known engineering principles and practices to form the skeletal backbone of the structure.
The arrangement of the beams and columns is critical ensuring that the framework of beams and columns can support the stresses, strains and loads contemplated for the intended use of the structure. It is equally important to determine the manner in which such stresses, strains and loads are transferred from beam to beam, beam to column and column to foundation throughout the structure. Accordingly, much attention must also be given to the means by which beams and columns are connected in an architectural structure.
Many traditional connectors used in structural systems are “one-way” connectors, meaning that the connectors result in the structural components bearing or transferring loads only in a single direction. While such structures have enjoyed a great deal of success, the one-way systems do not facilitate maximum strength and support of the structure.
The present invention is provided to solve these and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior architectural structural systems of this type.